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Moscow, both hated and helpless in Kaliningrad

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Russia's westernmost city staged the
biggest anti-Moscow protests in a decade on Sunday. But while similar demonstrations
across the rest of the country saw the swift deployment of riot police, in the
distant Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad Oblast, the authorities were left
helpless in the face of an estimated 10,000 protestors.

The police
say there were 6,000 protestors; the protestors themselves say there were
12,000. Either way, the demonstration was huge; thought to be the biggest in
Russia in the past ten years and almost six times bigger than the Vladivostok
uprising in December 2008.
Organised by local rights group Spravedlivost
("Justice", a supposedly non-political entity), and attended by supporters
of Solidarity, the Communist and the Liberal Democrat
parties, participants held up banners denouncing both local governor Georgy
Boos and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for increasing utility prices at
a time of economic crisis. They also booed the refusal of the government to
reinstate the direct popular election of regional governors,
abolished by Putin in 2004. The 83 governors are currently chosen directly by
the president.

What was
particularly unusual about the mass protest in Kaliningrad,
is that unlike most public demonstrations in Russia, this one was left untouched
by riot police. The explanation presented by many is quite simple - protests
are usually dispersed by riot police squads from other regions, but it's not
easy to bring external forces into Kaliningrad,
due to the fact that it's geographically separated from the rest of the
country, with Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus in-between. The region is very close-knit, so getting the local police to arrest what could be their relatives or close friends is a rather complicated task.

“United Russia is a bucket of filth”

People chant
"Partiya YedRo - Pomoinoye Vedro"
("United Russia is a bucket of filth") and "Putin is responsible for Boos" (Georgy
Boos is the Kaliningrad
governor who was appointed by Putin in 2005). Video posted on YouTube Jan. 31 by "kit1052".

“We live in the middle of Europe, where they do care about civil rights, freedom, beliefs”

Mikhailis,
from Kaliningrad,
took part in the protest. He prefers to remain anonymous.

From
students to seniors, what united the crowds was their refusal to agree with
the current situation in the region. The governor, sent to us from Moscow, probably thinks of
himself as of a tsar. He keeps raising taxes and making other misdeeds, not
taking into account what people think. He cares only about his own interests and
what the higher authorities tell him. Kaliningrad
has the highest unemployment rate in the country, people are practically broke
because of the crisis, but the millionaire governor raises taxes several fold!
Utility prices are on the rise, goods prices are on the rise, salaries are
dropping - but the authorities are trying to get their hands even deeper into
our pockets!

Why Kaliningrad has become the
first and the only city that has said ‘Enough'? We're cut off from the rest of Russia,
which, as is clear now, just spits on us. Putin delivered us a governor that
spits on us too. But we live in the middle of Europe,
where they do care about civil rights, freedom, beliefs."

Ilya
Denbrov is an IT specialist and photographer who took part in the protest.

I don't think
anybody was expecting so many people. People came to express discontent with
their lives, with the situation they were in because of the local authorities.
And this discontent was able to bring together very different people with
different political views. I'm very happy that our people are starting to wake
up, to act and that they are not afraid to speak out anymore.

Of course,
there were some arguable or even negative moments. I believe that many people
would sign under the words of one of the organisers on YouTube [talking about
what he says are lies perpetrated by the Russian press]:

-
The first lie is that the participants were paid to go out - they were
not, if people were paid to go there would probably have been many more than 12
thousand. People came because they are fed up.

-
The second lie is that the meeting was organised by the opposition
parties - it was not, it was organised by a non-political organisation called "Justice".
Parties just helped - all of them except United Russia. But we are not affiliated
with any party - we haven't found a party for ourselves - yet.

-
The third lie - it was a waste of time and nothing will come of it. All
these lies are a sure sign that the meeting was noticed.

-
The fourth lie - the police. They tried to set us and the police against
each other. There were young policemen standing there. It's not there fault
that they were sent. We worked together to prevent disorder. Somebody
wants us to be divided - no way. It's not Moscow,
not Vladivostok
and not Pikalevo. Gdansk, Poland is just 150 kilometres from
us. That's where the Solidarnosc movement that overthrew the Polish regime was
born.

-
The final lie is that we're extremist and revolutionaries. No, we don't
need a revolution. We just want to live with dignity in our city - the city belongs to us.